Bumper



f, March 1s, 1924. f 1,487,105

G. KAWASAKI March 18 1924. 1,487,105

y G. KAwAsAKl l Y BUMPER Filed oct. -s, 192; 2 sheets-sheet 2'wifi/awry.

i ing with resistance'and which willoperate Y.

Patented Mar. 18, 1924.

Goao KAWASAKI, .or cmo-Acc, minnaars..v

BUMPER. l

Application ledxetober 5, 1923. Serial No.7 666,809.

To all lwhom t may concern.'

BeV it known that I, GroRo KAWASAKI, a subject of the Emperor of Japan,andla resident of the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in, Bumpers,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates'to new and use-f improvements in bumpers forvehicles Aand has for its principal object the provision of an improvedconstructionof this character, which will be highly eliicient in use andeconomical in manu acture. f

Among the salient objects'of the invention is thevpro'vision of adeviceV ofsthis character which is capableupon meeting with resistanceVto obstruct 'passage under the vehicle with which the deviceisassociated while at the same time guarding the adjacent parts of thevehicle against damage due to such resistance. In the preferredconstruction, to be hereinafter described, it is my object toincorporate certain combination of elements andp'arts, as a part-of thedevice, which will be durable to support` the bumper in its normalorinitial position, and at the same time Vhave the properties ofresiliency permitting movement of,A the bumper upon meeting withresistance.`

In carryingout the objects ofthe inven-v tion itis aimed to constructthe device in a manner such that the same will be llight in structurevWithout lessening -its esthetic value, and it is one of the objects ofthe invention to provide a device of this character which Will operateautomatically upon meet-r automatically to return to its initialposition after the removal of such resistance.

Other Vobjects willi appear hereinafter. The invention consists in thecombinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter -de-V f scribedv andclaimed. i

rlhe invention will' be bestl understoodtby. reference to the.Yaccompanying-drawings forming a, part. of this 4speci-cation, andeinwhichv Y Fig. l vis a'. front elevational view of.- a bumper embodying'the. invention; Y

Fig. Q'is a sectionalview taken substantially on line2i-2of Figrlg;

Fig. 3 is a secti'inal view taken-.fsuhstanf tially on line 3er-'3.0iEig. 2.; Y

Fig. a sectional view taken substantially on line/l--li'of Fig. 3,y andFig. '5f is afragmentary sectional view taken substantially online ,5 5jof'Fig. 1.

In attaining the objects ofthe inventionv and referring to the .drawings,showing the Q preferred: form of construction, the bumper is indicatedat A andcomprises atop frame member lwhaving. cu-rvedjend portions lland. a' bottom frame :member 312 'also having i curved end:v portioifisA*13,* the curved" end por# tions 11 and.` 13 being preferably locatedbe'- yond thefoutenside. vertical yplane of the front. .wheels/14oflthe.vehicle` The Vbumper, Y

further includes? frame men-ilo'fers.15vv andV 1G having opposite 'rendsjoinedto the top and bottom framejmembersQby elbows 17, the framemembersfl and 'lbeing joinedto gether by transversely arranged bars"18in turn joined together'by a 'framemember 19, the barsl 18 beingpreferably locatedan appreciable4 distance. from the curved end porftions of the frameinembers 101and'l1and joined-to the framemeinbers land16 by T' members 20 fixed to said framemembers theI elbowsv` 17 and; themembers "2O I prefer toi-'mount rollers 22which are adaptedVV under.certainconditionswhen the bumper isfoperative upon meetingwith'resistance to `engage the peripheral'edgeof the tread 23' ofthe tire.This arrangement lessens theffriction. of @the bumper `upon, suchYVengagement withthe tire treadand prevents damage-tothe tire ,duetofriction between the tire tread and thehumper when a great amountofre'sistance is made by the bumper.

,as/shown` in Fig.,.l2 vthe portion ofthe bumper frame. Work aboveltheframem'emi Y berlkfisginclinedupwardly andjrearwardly whereas theremaining '-,portion` Lof the bumper frame worlribelowthef'fame memfwardly.; Vvtkltie..'arraaigenu'ieit .being such` that whenythebinnper.ismoveddowntothe posi tion illustrated inV dottedlines in.thisllflgure the bumper frame..worli abve.. the frame f`16willfpractically bein averticalplaine v wherev .imparts aerea@eiche-#reihe am@ to be made up of hollow frame members for the sake ofdurability and lightness, however, if desired for any reason, the bumpercan be made of solid frame members sucli as metal bars or the like. 'A

Means is provided fori supporting the bumper A on the vehicle formovement.

lThis means as shown in the drawings, pref-YYY gripping surf-aces. `Thetoggle linksare in' connection with spring arms 32, said connectionbeing facilitated by bolts 33. The spring arms 32 comprise parts 34 and35 adjustably connected together by bolts v36; The parts. 35 of thespring arms have end portions 37 which pass aroundV the frame member 12as at 37 to the rear of the bumper and rearwardly inclined upwardly withthe extremities 38 slightly curved to partly embrace the frame member10, as best shown in Fig. 2, said portions 37 being` Xed in rigidposition to the bumper A by J-shaped clip bolts 39, with the curvedportions of the bolts embracing the adjacent Jframe members to preventdisplacement of theportions 37.

The bumper A is supported in normal or in its initial position by springmembers 40 having lower end portions fixed tothe frame member 16 as at41 and upper end portions with loops 42 adapted to be received by theextremities 43 of the L-shaped bolts 2G, said extremities 43 of saidbolts being provided with spacednotches 44 permitting adjustment of thespring members 40.

v As shown in Fig. 2, l provide means whereby the frame member "12 canbe adjusted relatively with respect tothe ground, this .meaiis intheApresent "and preferred structure includesL threaded bolts 45 takenthrough'the toggle'links29 with their ends 4in contact withV theparts34, the bolts 45 being provided with lock nuts 47. By this arrangement,by manipulating the bolts 45 the spring arms are caused to buckle "andvary the distance between the frame meniber 12 and the ground. L I

ln operation when the device as herein disclosed comes into contact`with an object resisting :the Vmovement ofthe vehicle the bumper, bylreason of its manner ofattachment to the chassis ofl `a'nvehiele, will'be moved automaticallyk rearwardly and -downwardly with the framemember 12 in contact or lclose 'proximity with theground,

thereby obstructing passage under the vehicle. After the resistance hasbeen removed tlie bumper will automatically resume its former positionas best shown in 2, this return of the bumper to its initial positionbeing accomplished through the medium of the springs 40 and spring arms32. the resistance is great and the bumper is moved rearwardly more thanusual, under such conditions the rollers 22 are brought into contactwith the front wheels of the vehicle for reasons herein stated..

It is intended that in the preferred construction that the resiliency ofthe spring arms and 0f the springs 40 Vbe such that the bumper bepermitted to move under resistance of a slight nature such as might bemet with upon the bumper coming into Contact with the body.

` From the description herein it is apparent that l provide a bumperwhich accomplishes all the objects 0f the invention and which can beassociated with vehicles lof conventional types. l

While l have illustrated and described the preferred form ofconstruction for carrying my invention into edect, this is capable orvariation and modification without departing from the spirit of theinvention.-V l, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precisedetails of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of suchvariations and modifications as come within the scope ef the appendedclaims. Y

Having described my invention, what l claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1L A device of the class described, in combination with the chassis of avehicle, of a bumper adapted to be attached to the chassis for downwardmovement under certain cenditions, resilient means affording attachmentof the bumper to the chassis, and flexible members having end portionsconnected to the bumper adapted to resist downward movement thereof. l2. A device 4of the class described, in co bination with the chassis ofa vehicle, a movable bumper adapted to be supported forwardly ofthechassis, means affording attachment of the bumper to the chassis, andflexible members having operative connection to the bumper adapted toresist movement ofthe bumper in one direction.

3. .fi device of the class described, in con bination with the chassisof a vehicle, movable'bumper adapted to be supported forwardly of thechassis, means a'ording attachment of the bumper to the chassis, and

flexible members includingparts adjustably Y members having` means ofattachment to a tachment to a vehicle, resilient members having endportions attached to the supporting members and end portions attached tothe frame, and resilient members having end portions attached to thesupporting members and having portions inclined rearwardly and upwardlywith the extremities curved to partly embrace the upper longitudinalframe member of the frame.

5. A vehicle bumper including a frame, supporting means having means ofattachment to a vehicle, resilient members having end portions attachedto the supporting means and end portions attached to the trame, andmembers having means of attachment to the supporting means and havinginclined portions carrying the frame.

6. A vehicle bumper including a frame having means of attachment to avehicle permitting automatic upward and downward movement of the frame,and resilient means controlling the movements of the frame and havingportions extending over the lower longitudinal frame member of the 1frame with extremities curved to partly embrace the upper longitudinalframe member of the frame.

7. A'vehicle bumper including a frame having means. of attachment to avehicle permitting automatic upward and down,

frame with extremities curved to partly embrace the upper longitudinalframe member of the frame, and means operative on the last named meansfor varying the distance between the ground and said lower longitudinalframe member.

8. A vehicle bumper including supporting members having Vmeans ofattachment lto a vehicle, link members adjustably carried by thesupporting members, spring arms having end portions attached to the linkmembers and having portions inclined rearwardly and upwardly with curvedextremities, a frame having a frame memberpartly embraced b v the curvedextremities and supported by the resilient arms for automatic movement`and members having means of attachment to the supporting members and tothe frame controlling the automatic movements of the frame.

9. A vehicle bumperincluding supporting vehicle, link members adjustablycarried by the supporting memberspspring arms including parts adjustablyconnected together having end portions attached. to the link members andhaving portions inclined rear-V wardly and upwardly with curvedextremities, a frame having a frame member partly embraced by theresilient arms for auto matic movement, and members having means ofattachment to the supporting members and to the frame controlling theVautomatic movements of the frame.

l0. A vehicle bumper including supporting members having means ofattachment tov a vehicle, link members adjustably carried by thesupporting members, spring arms having end portions attached to the linkmembers and having portions inclined rearwardly and upwardly with curvedextremities, a frame having a frame member partly embraced by the curvedextremities and supported by the resilient arms for automatic imovement, members having means of at-y tachment to the supportingmembers and to the frame controlling the automatic movements oftheframe, and means carried by l vehicle, link members adjustably carriedby Y the supporting members, spring arms including parts adjustablyconnected together having end portions attached to the link members and.having portions inclined rearwardly and upwardly with curvedextremities, a frame having a frame member partlyfembraced by the curvedextremities and supported by theresilient arms for automatic movement,members having means of attachment to the supporting membersand to theframe cont-rolling the automatic movements of the frame and meanscarried by the link members and operativeon the springarms forvarying'the distance between the ground and the lower longitudinal framemember of the frame. i

In testimony whereof I have signed my

